Sports Round-up

12:01AM BST 02 Aug 2002

Lawn Tennis:

World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt has confirmed that he will be available to play for Australia in the Davis Cup play-off against India next month.

Australia's captain, John Fitzgerald, said the 21-year-old Wimbledon champion was keen to return to his home town of Adelaide for the tie. "He wants to come home," Fitzgerald said. "He feels that the court here is almost like playing in his back yard."

Australia are still not sure whether Mark Philippoussis will be available for the tie. The injury-plagued player withdrew from the match against Argentina in February. Hewitt missed that tie because of illness and Australia lost 5-0.

Australia must beat India in next month's play-off to qualify for the World Group next year.

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The Romanian Open, due to be staged next month, could be sold to Hungary due to a chronic lack of funds, the director of Eastern Europe's biggest claycourt event revealed.

Dumitru Haradau said the tournament's owner, Ion Tiriac, the former Davis Cup player who personally covers annual losses of up to £200,000, had met officials from Budapest several times to discuss the matter. "Tiriac has had contacts with Hungarian officials over the past years, who repeatedly asked him to sell them the Open," Haradau said.

Ice Skating:

Barbara Fusar Poli, the Italian ice dance Olympic bronze medallist, reacted angrily yesterday after hearing that an alleged Russian crime boss had been accused of fixing the Salt Lake City Winter Games results. "They robbed us of our medal. We should have been first and we ended up third," said Fusar Poli, third with Maurizio Margaglio in last February's Games.

She spoke out after prosecutors announced that Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, a Russian citizen, had been charged in Italy with conspiracy to commit fraud and influence a sporting event through bribery. Fusar Poli and Margaglio were favourites for the Olympic title after winning the 2001 world ice dance pairs championship. "If all this is true then the Olympics have to be re-held," she said.

Motor Racing: I

rish businessman Brendan McGuinness yesterday revealed that a consortium led by himself and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed are preparing to take over the under-funded Minardi Formula One team from Australian owner Paul Stoddart. McGuinness said talks were ongoing, adding: "It would be a total takeover and we have the budget to do that."

Meanwhile, Minardi driver Mark Webber is considering offers from three Formula One teams for next season. Sources at Jaguar said that negotiations were taking place, but the 25-year-old Australian insisted: "There are a few teams interested, so nothing's resolved."

Speedway:

Great Britain launch their World Cup campaign when they take on title favourites Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic at Sheffield on Sunday.

The winners of the meeting go straight through to the final at Peterborough tomorrow week, with the runners-up going into a race-off, also at Peterborough, next Thursday. Australia won the cup in Poland last year.

Rugby League:

Adrian Vowles hopes to make his Wakefield Trinity debut against Hull tonight after joining the club yesterday as player-coach from Leeds.

Vowles, a 31-year-old Australian who joined Leeds only this season from Castleford, will play pending work permit clearance.

Rugby Union:

Rugby Football Union officials will decide the future of beleaguered Moseley, the National League One club, subject of a takeover bid by Oxford United owner Firoz Kassam. Rival proposals from Kassam and a consortium of members must be submitted to Twickenham by next Thursday. The RFU have stepped in following the failure of a creditors' meeting to resolve the problems of a club that is £300,000 in debt.

Yachting:

After five straight defeats in the UBS Challenge series in Newport, Rhode Island, Andy Green said: "You can't let losses hit you too hard. You just have to try and win the next race."

That's exactly what Green, the prospective starting helmsman for Britain's GBR America's Cup Challenge, did on the second day, finishing off the first round-robin races with a win over Dawn Riley. He also looked certain to beat another American, Andy Lovell, until the wind dropped on the final downwind leg.

Ice Hockey:

Canadian Bob Zeller, who masterminded the phenomenal rise of the Belfast Giants, has left the club to oversee the Scottish Eagles' move from Ayr to Glasgow.